Towards a Perceptual Integration of cataloging records T

Th e Museum of Earth Sciences, University of Bari, off ers active guided tours dedicated to visually impaired visitors to enjoy the historical-scientifi c heritage preserved in it: fossils, rocks, minerals, and scientifi c tools. Since the late 1990s, activities have been explored in collaboration with an educational center for visually impaired people to make exibitions fully accessible to those who have a diff erent perception of the environment,. For the realization of these museum tours for visually impaired, both in the mineralogicalpetrographic and in the paleontological section, innovative techniques of 3D prototyping have been adopted for the duplication of objects that, for conservative issues, may not be inserted into tactile path. Th e 3D technologies broaden the possibilities of tactile exploration off ered to visitors and thus contribute to the imaginary reconstruction of either the cultural heritage in the museums and the environment in which it lived, in the case of natural samples. Th e results of these experiments were collected in the book “Museum in the dark: museum educational experiments for the visually impaired,” published in 2010 by an specialized editor (F.A.L. VISION), in which the traditional printed text is supplemented by Braille translation. Th e experience gained in these years have suggested the opportunity to consider the inclusion in the cataloguing records of fi elds relating to size, shape and tactile feeling of surfaces, for a description of the objects helpful to their use in a tactile way.